What to Expect From 2021 AP Exams

The 2020 Advanced Placement exams were altered significantly – and on a very tight schedule – due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So what should we expect for 2021?

With one exception, AP exams this year will be full-length. 

Last year, many subjects had reduced course content due to a chaotic switch to remote instruction. This led to an admissions problem for colleges: should students be given AP course credit, often the replacement for a freshman-level course, when they hadn’t completed and proved mastery of all course material?

This year, the College Board is working to prevent that dilemma by providing “course pacing guidelines” for each class. For schools that have completed only 25% of the course curriculum by January, these guidelines lay out a new syllabus for the remaining school year and supplement in-class learning with AP Daily Learning Videos (up to 30 min. of additional daily content). 

The only exception to this approach is AP Physics 1, which underwent a permanent curricular change. Units 8-10 have been moved from Physics 1 to Physics 2.

AP exams will be available both in-person and online, and with an expanded schedule.

This year the College Board will be offering three test dates ranging from May 3 through June 11. The College Board has devised a relatively complex testing calendar sorted by subject, and schools will choose which and how many administrations they provide. The initial round of exams is to be on paper, in school. In situations where students have the opportunity to choose, they should consider both timing and format. Some students feel more comfortable with digital learning than others, and some benefit from paper testing and the ability to annotate their exams as they work.  

After concerns about internet connections and test security, the College Board has instituted a new online technology that allows for a digital download and submission process. There’s also a process underway to create a viable remote proctoring system, probably proprietary to the College Board. This said, AP Readers have already been informed that the summer 2021 reading will again be virtual, signaling that the majority of AP exams may be given online as well.  

AP is giving students new ways to study.

In addition to the AP Classroom resources released last year and the new Daily Learning Videos, the College Board will be offering live online review sessions the week of April 19-30. That said, students who aren’t achieving their best results with distance learning may need more guidance, whether that be in a small group setting or with individual tutoring. Face-to-face sessions provide an accountability that’s often lacking in distance education, as well as personalization to the student’s strengths and weaknesses.